The Nap Manifesto

Working at home allows me the luxury of indulging in to my natural tendency to nap. Mine are not the 20-minute “power naps” people boast about. My naps like to last about an hour and a half, which, it turns out is the time it takes to complete one cycle of sleep.

Of course, I don’t take a nap every day, although I’d like to. I’ve attended enough meetings and taught enough seminars at 1 p.m., right after lunch, that I know it’s a deadly hour. It seems to me that the cultures that have a general siesta in the early afternoon have the right idea.

Our society thinks nappers are lazy. Now science has the evidence to prove the case for napping. In her fascinating book, Take a Nap! Change your life, Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D. proclaims that napping “is free, it’s nontoxic and it has no dangerous side effects.” Instead, it will:

1. Increase your alertness
2. Speed up your motor performance.
3. Improve your accuracy.
4. Help you make better decisions.
5. Improve your perception.
6. Fatten your bottom line.
7. Preserve your youthful looks.
8. Improve your sex life.
9. Lose weight.
10. Reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
11. Reduce your risk of diabetes.
12. Improve your stamina.
13. Elevate your mood.
14. Boost your creativity.
15. Reduce stress.
16. Help your memory.
17. Reduce dependence on drugs/alcohol.
18. Alleviate migraines, ulcers and other problems with psychological components.
19. Improve the ease and quality of your nocturnal sleep.

Oh, yes. It also feels good. Right now, if you know what’s good for you, close your browser, find a comfortable spot and catch a few zzzzs.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved